Q1 Budgets Fall, Fewer Security Experts Hired

TEKsystems' new "Quarterly IT Reality Check" survey finds smaller tech budgets in the first quarter, but more IT leaders who are confident about their ability to meet business demands. Security experts and big data talent, however, are more difficult to hire. The study compares current market conditions to spending, skills needs, and other impact areas reported in the company's Annual IT Forecast released last November. It represents the views of 244 IT leaders, including CIOs, CTOs, IT vice presidents, IT directors and managers. "Budget optimism was a little overstated as it has impacted initial hiring," says TEKsystems Research Manager Jason Hayman. "As IT leaders continue to see how well their IT department can satisfy their organization's business needs, it will be interesting to see how conditions continue to develop, either falling in line with or skewing further away from expectations, and how organizations will adapt." For more about the survey, click here.

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Fewer Budget Increases

62% of IT leaders expected budget increases, but only 47% received increases. The number of leaders whose budgets are the same increased from 26% to 38%.

Budget Decreases Unchanged

IT leaders expecting decreases shifted less than 3%, from 12% to 15% compared to the 2013 Annual IT Forecast.

Confidence Prevails

More IT leaders' budgets are flat, but the number of IT leaders confident in their department's ability to meet business demands increased from 66% at the end of 2013 to 72% at the end of Q1.

Neutrals Decline, Low Confidence Rises

IT leaders neutral about meeting demands decreased from 21% to 15%. Those lacking confidence in their ability to meet business demands increased from 6% to 12%.

Security Experts More Difficult To Hire

IT leaders rank security, programmers, and big data experts as the three most difficult positions to fill. Business analyst remains the fourth most difficult role to fill.

Hiring Other Talent Easing up

It is less difficult to hire architects, software engineers and project managers, compared to last year.

Mobility and Security Have Biggest Impact

Mobility, security, cloud computing and big data are impacting enterprise the most. Mobility shifted from number 3 to number 1. Security remained the same at number 2.

Social Media Spikes

Social networking peaked in importance, jumping from 10th to 5th place in Q1 2014.

Full-time and Contingent Worker Hiring Increases

Only 35% of IT leaders say hiring full-time and contingent IT workers increased in Q1, possibly due to fewer budget increases.